<i>> With the body it is almost always use it or lose it.</i><p>It is <i>wild</i> how intense this effect is. Last year, I broke my ankle. I couldn't use that leg at all. Within two months, almost all of the muscle in that calf was gone. Just eight weeks and while one leg still looked normal and the other was a stick. Even the flesh that was still there was soft and spongy.<p>When I got an X-ray later, the surgeon said I had the bones of an 80-year-old in that leg. All the bone density, just gone.<p>It's crazy how rapidly a human body will cannibalize itself if you don't use something. From what I've heard, this is an evolutionary adaptation unique to humans. Most other animals just have the muscles they have regardless of use. But, perhaps because we went through a narrow population window during the Ice Age, we've evolved this ability to harvest our own resources to survive.<p>Probably great for not starving to death, but a real bummer if you're trying to be fit.
> Nobody says we have to be good at everything we do<p>This is advice I have to push on my kids constantly, because they are obsessed with finding that one thing they are better than everyone else in the world.<p>"Do some" is not advice I got as a kid, but my mom eventually figured it out and told me that when was in my mid 20s or something.<p>Her words (from Malayalam) are best translated as "For whom a little is not enough, nothing is ever enough".<p>I think that's true for everything from money to self-worth. Enough is too hard to have.
The first step to becoming anything - an artist, a programmer, a fit dude - is falling in love with the process, or at least developing the discipline to practice regularly. I heard from gym people that just being at the gym free regularly without even doing anything there is a better first step than going all out once then never going again.<p>In a similar vein there is a wonderful video essay called The Toolbox Fallacy. It's about how people fancy themselves artists and keep delaying the things that would make them an artist. They wait for the right degree, the right tools, the right breakthrough. In the end, painting is what makes a painter, not collecting paintbrushes.<p>I could only apply this advice when I accepted that the output of my work would suck for a while. I went to sketching sessions and sketched wildly deformed bodies. But damn it I was drawing. Same with blogging, and with talking to strangers.<p>In the words of a cartoon dog, "sucking at something is the first step towards being sorta good at something". While most wisdom is gained as you age, this one is progressively lost. We lose the ability to play, and the willingness to fail.
This reminds me of the concept of "no zero days": To build up a habit or a skill, do at least the minimum required to acquire that habit or skill. If it's push-ups, do just one push-up, just to keep the streak of no zero days. If it's writing code, write one line of code. The magic is that, the greatest friction comes from the resistance to doing <i>anything</i> at all instead of doing it all the way.
I spent most of college in the gym. I quickly hit my size limit. Strength seemed to improve slowly. Then I did a popular steroid cycle. Of course I got huge. 5 years later I did trenbolone so I got big AND strong.<p>But the relevant bit is 5 years after that, I tried 1/4 the dosage, plus only 15 minutes in the gym every day (1 set of 3-rep max of each of the major lifts). I got just as big, and was actually stronger than I had ever been thru the full dose cycles.<p>Outside of the gym, I regularly halve the dose of any prescriptions or suggested dose of recreational drugs. A friend even told me he saw a Buddhist monk take a tiny shot of liquor and sit and meditate on that single shot for hours.<p>And finally, if I may take a sad turn, my father got trigeminal neuralgia but he's largely avoided all drugs all his life, so the standard dose hits him way too hard.
There was/is a trend of "science gyms" that do 20 minute per week personal training.<p>The meticulous PT format and exercise selection allows them to achieve more muscle gain in 20 minutes per week than median trainees achieve in 2-3 hours. The short sessions make personal training economically viable.<p>That said... optimizing that heavily tends to eliminate all unmeasured benefits. The habit forming. Mentality/personality changes that would occur from more typical exercise approaches. Cardio. Etc.<p>But... it does demonstrate the principle.<p>Minimum effective doses are powerful. But, they require precision.<p>Also... you need to consider the candidate. If your body is adapted to almost no exercise... it is also highly sensitive to seemingly small doses of it.<p>What is or is not "exercise" is mostly determined by proximity to your day to day.<p>If you never exercise, never speak to other people, or never eat any fresh food... a little goes a very long way.
"240 minutes a month which is enough to finish 1-2 books"<p>this number stands out to me ! maybe i am slow reader but .5-1 seems more realistic
I'm really surprised people didn't know this.<p>I recall Rippetoe & Kilgore speculating in Practical Programming for Strength Training that 70-80% of all muscular gains occur in the first set.<p>I had OpenAI's deep research look into this and its sources concluded that "One-set routines can achieve roughly 60–70% of the muscle growth that higher-volume (3–5 set) routines produce".<p>You can do one set of various exercises and be out of the gym in <i>minutes</i>.<p>Of course, this sounds ridiculous, but appears to be true.
I've done a lot of broad research on exercise in recent years. While there is certainly a dose dependent relationship with results, it's amazing how little you can do to get "some" results. A few stats from studies or articles I've seen in the past:
- Just twelve minutes of exercise is correlated with positive health improvements
- As little as two minutes of walking after eating has a positive improvement in blood sugar
Can relate with the whole "It may come as a surprise how little time we truly need at the gym to gain strength and muscle. I think it is all about sending our bodies the right signals" thing.<p>Just jumping in the pool to swim 20 minutes 2 or 3 times a week dropped my resting heart rate significantly week over week, as measured by my watch, although it's a low amount of exercise... I wake up to notifications for sub 40 BPM whereas I did not before.
“Minimum effective dose” is a concept I picked up from years of amateur bodybuilding. Seeing that same context in the beginning of the article was a treat! Minimum effective dose has been a pretty powerful concept for me over the years and has some overlap with “The 80/20 Rule”. It’s allowed my to make small investments in goals and snuff out insecurities that arise, such as the feeling of not trying hard enough.
This is a good thought process.<p>I’m hauling my ass to the gym 7 days a week, just to build consistency and make it part of my life.<p>Does that mean I push hard 7 days? No! I do intense weights 3 times a week, accessories 2 times a week, and cardio and Pilates 2 times a week.<p>The other day I was borked from work, so I just did a very light 30 minute bike ride.<p>It was enough to feel good and feel on track.<p>Just a side note: there is a lot of time in a day, once you reduce social media usage and information gathering, you have loads of time, especially if you’re young and single and childless. Make the most of it :)
It’s a great read and a great advice.<p>There’s something I’ve noticed lately. The only thing that differentiates bad from great is time, and IMO talent is often mistaken with preference.<p>E.g. it’s not like great engineers become great by work and talent. The best I know love reading, talking, experimenting and exploring. In the evenings, over weekends. It’s time, but time over the preference.<p>I liked to ask people during job interviews what they find fun in computing and (anecdotally of course) even deep introverts have that spark in their eyes when they’re fascinated.<p>Edit: I also remembered that Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg talks about that topic. Good read and strategies there worked for me.
I like the philosophy and employ it myself.<p>Regarding the gym, specifically lifting -- progressive overload ( thus muscle growth) can definitely be accomplished in a minimal amount of time. BUT, it requires a high to maximum amount of effort to be effective, so not sure if that counts.
The only exercise that counts is the exercise that you do. If you start with a five-minute walk around the block, that's better than a three-mile run that you never actually do. And you can gradually increase the length of the walk when you feel comfortable with the current level.
> even if I can only read 5 minutes before bed, I do it anyway<p>I would worry about operant conditioning myself to associate reading with sleep.<p>One friend put on movies to help them go to sleep. Later she struggled to watch movies without falling asleep.<p>I overthink this concept, so I'm overly cautious about what activities I mix together because I fear the risk of training strange subconscious responses in myself.
So true! May I add that timing and context matters too. When I was living in Paris I used to read on the subway to and from work, which added up to 30 minutes a day. I went through lots of books that I would otherwise not have the mental strength to bring myself to read when I’m at home and I have my laptop as an alternative…
Another area where this is effective is in learning a language. Just 5-10 minutes of Anki practice a day is a lot better than nothing but hopes and dreams. And flashcard apps work in such a way that even if you get lazy for months, you'll be surprised at how quickly you are able to remember and catch up.
This goes back to the goals vs systems debate that Scott Adams talks about in one of his books. Over a long period of time, systems improve your life in compound.
Counterpoint.<p>When you go to gym to make muscle, one of the first thing you learn is that you need the right intensity to force your body to increase its muscle.<p>Even if you give 70% intensity everyday during a year, it won't be enough to make the slightest change.<p>It got to be all in aka very close to failure to start seeing improvement otherwise the body rebuild the muscle but doesn't grow it.
<p><pre><code> 合抱之木，生于毫末；九层之台，起于累土；千里之行，始于足下。 [1]
This is not secret, almost everyone knows it thousand years ago,
but most of people won't do it. Minimum effective dose is another
way to say be consistent on thing that you feel important. The 3rd
chapter on Atomic Habit also give a very detailed explanation.
And it is so easy to find real word examples:
"Mental toughness and resilience fade if they aren't used
consistently. I say it all the time: you are either getting better,
or you're getting worse. You're not staying the same." [2]
"That’s often all that’s necessary to get the snowball rolling, the
action needed to inspire the motivation to keep going. You can
become your own source of inspiration. You can become your own
source of motivation. Action is always within reach. And with
simply doing something as your only metric for success—well, then
even failure pushes you forward." [3]
In cycling training:
- "I have always been a really consistent rider" [4]
- "The biggest difference in my training in in 2018 to today is
consistency" [5]
- "My Top 5 Tips To Increase Cycling Power: Number one is
consistency." [6]
- Let's finish up with the five key points to how you can improve
your FTP. Number one, be consistent. [7]
- I have three kind of important specs in training, so the first
one and arguably the very most important is consistency. [8]
But if most people agree with this idea, why not everybody do this
way? I think is lacking a clear goal, and a good way to measure it.
I used to be competitive as cyclist, but as I getting older, I
start lossing this part of motivition. Nowadays, I am not training
for FTP anymore, but training for "I don't want to make this f*k
run in this frozen winter". I want myself to become as hard as
Goggins.
Life is short, what would you like to be consistent with?
[1] 道德经【第六十四章】
[2] Goggins, D. (2022). Never finished: unshackle your mind and win
the war within. David Goggins.
[3] Manson, M. (2016). The subtle art of not giving a f*ck: a
counterintuitive approach to living a good life. New York:
HarperOne.
[4] 12 questions with Greg van Avermaet
https://www.cyclingnews.com/features/12-questions-with-greg-van-avermaet/
[5] 300+ Watt Ramp Test, My 66 Watt Increase - Trainerroad, Zwift,
Sufferfest https://youtu.be/HPQUgrd7zR0?t=292
[6] How I Increased My FTP By 140 Watts & My Top 5 Tips To Increase
Cycling Power https://youtu.be/FVetgOjQxak?t=313
[7] How to Raise Your FTP || Workouts and Strategies to Boost Your
FTP in 2021 https://youtu.be/ECpZ1KxUfyM?t=802
[8] How I´ve doubled my FTP in 3 years https://youtu.be/UJTHfK-hmYw?t=336</code></pre>